I never cease to be amazed at the speed of life. I start out each week with the best of intentions. This week, I will smother my child and husband with affection, the house will be clean, the dogs will be walked, I'll work out everyday, and we'll all eat healthy. But life seems to get in the way.
Home and Family
Trey is having an excellent year at school. He is learning so much and growing so fast. He is my miracle. At 5, he is writing stories, he can add and subtract, and is working on the 1st grade site words. I'm anxious to see what grade level he scores at for Math and Reading this Spring.
Picture day is Monday and we are all debating what my handsome little guy will wear. I just pray that the pictures are take BEFORE lunch time.
We are also gearing up for Trey's birthday party in just a few weeks. Looks like we'll be bowling and playing laser tag. Found someone to make a Lego Star Wars cake. I'm very excited to see what she produces. She is quite the artist! I will post pictures
I can not believe that my little baby is going to be 6. Isn't it funny how you find yourself saying and feeling all of the things that you remember your parents doing? Don't you wish that you would have listened more? I know that I do.
Tennis and Running
I went to Zenda's, Hampton's tennis pro/godess, drop-in drills on Thursday night. It was so much fun, I couldn't leave the court. I played three hours of tennis and enjoyed every second of it. I am really looking forward to our forthcoming seasons.
The rankings and schedules for the new ALTA season are out. My Sunday Women's team is in an A7 division. My Thursday Women's team is in a C6 division. Guess where I belong? Regardless, this is an excellent opportunity to grow my game. I can't wait to get started with lessons and practice THIS WEEK.
Davin is absolutely chomping at the bit to get back on the court. We signed up to play -3.5 mixed doubles in the Ultimate Tennis league. I'm looking forward to watching him serve underhand! I have promised myself that I will be on my best behavior so that I can convince him to partner up with me in ALTA mixed doubles this summer. Sometimes my competitive nature and drive get the better of me and I can be a bit annoying with which to play.
I am also busy planning the end of season party for the Hampton community. I've got a Mardi Gras theme in mind since Tuesday 3/8 is the big day. We've set the date for Sunday, March 13 at 1 pm. I love a good excuse to play tennis and celebrate Mardi Gras!
Work at WFHS
Sadly, this will be my last week working at WFHS. I can not believe how deeply and truly I have enjoyed worked with High Schoolers. I thought that I would be constantly battling bad attitudes and disinterest. There is some of that, but mostly, its fun and laughter. I will miss the students that I have grown so close to in just eight weeks.
Unfortunately, WFHS will not have the headcount to offer me a full time position next year. Davin and I have been discussing the possibility of trying to do more long term subbing next year. It helps keep me busy and contributes to the family finances. This may just allow us to do more around the house and possibly take that Disney Cruise about which we keep dreaming.
I'm going to end this week with a little fun. My French classes are all doing research projects on some aspect of Mardi Gras. I made them write a proposal for their research specifying the team members, their roles, the research topic, the product, and the basis for their assessment. I've been very impressed with their proposals. I have one group that will be performing the official Mardi Gras theme song and providing us with an overview of the song's history and role in the festivities. Another team will be presenting research on the music and dance of Francophone countries and regions. Still another will be investigating the history of Cajun cuisine and the French influence in "low" state foods.
Work at GAVS
I continue to struggle at GAVS. Much of my frustration is my inability to diagnosis what the prevalent issue is with the students. I would blame the general lack of success on the course design, but many of these students were in my class last semester and did not see tremendous progress.
For the AB course (both semester crammed into one), I've decided to make the remainder of the writing assignments optional extra credit. Ironically, I spend most of my time re-designing the course to improve these assignments. I integrated the writing process into the production of the required, short essay work. I believe that the combination of a five step process and the technology required in the steps is just too much for these students. They are either not motivated to complete each of the requirements, or they are incapable of following the process through all of the steps due to a lack of attention and perverseness. Only four of 19 students completed each of the required elements of the process.
I've also been spending an enormous amount of time working on my application for the Ed.S. in Education Technology at Valdosta State. I've got a March 15th deadline. The only two things I still need to get done are: the completion of a health form. Why I need to complete a physical for a 100% online class is beyond me. I also need to finish my 1500 word essay. I've decided that the best medium for presenting my technology skills would be an online, website based essay. It's still in the works, but looking good. I just need to finesse the text and add a Jing video or two. Hopefully they will accept this format as I've spent so much time on it.
Conclusion
It's been another jam packed week of good times and challenges. I'm looking forward to closing the chapter on the fabulous experience at WFHS and focusing on my efforts at home, with GAVS, and my application to Valdosta State.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Neophyte blogger begins her Trek
I've never blogged before. Don't really have time to blog. Not sure of the purpose of blogging. But....somewhere deep in my soul, blogging is calling to me. My goal is to compose one blog per week. I am hoping that this will improve my spelling and writing, and assist me in reflecting upon my personal and professional lives, and generally expect this exercise to make me look good. :) Can't blame a girl for trying, right?
What's going on?
There are really four facets of my life right now: Work at WFHS, Work at GAVS, Tennis and Running, and Home and Family. I plan to organize my blog to address each of these areas of my life.
Work at WFHS
I've been working as a long term substitute French and Spanish teacher at West Forsyth High School. I'm enjoying working with the students and getting back into a formal, face-to-face class room. I forgot how rewarding it can be to make a learning connection with a student: To see theme finally grasp a concept that has eluded them or help them to make a connection to a bigger idea and give a lesson meaning. This is why I love teaching and working with pupils.
Coming back to the classroom has also helped to understand how much I've grown as an educator. I started out as such a conservative, old-school education, always thinking about rigor and the integrity of an assessment. Now, I'm much more concerned about the learning, growth and success of my students. I've become a disciple of remediation. I've seen how well it works. It changes attitudes so profoundly that what was once viewed as impossible progress by the student is now attainable just because the students believes that they can.
Work at GAVS
I'm a bit defeated on this front. I developed the French 2 course that I am now teaching for the first time. It's littered with errors and typos, which is frustrating. Also, the writing assignments, which are the keystone of the course and my proudest innovation, are a miserable failure. I would say that two of the main factors are that: 1) the process is too lengthy and 2) the fact that students don't seem to understand how to navigate the site. They can't find the discussion forums and don't understand the expectations for the pre-writing peer editing discussion forum. They can not find the peer review forms and do not know how to critically examine writing assignment. I get feedback like, Looks good to me." or "Great job!" with no supporting evidence our comment. I suppose that this is a teaching opportunity. But frankly, some of these students are so far behind, they want to rush to get through assignment. Any additional instruction or support that I offer is just ignored.
Thinking about what I can do, I created a voice thread with step-by-step screen shots and verbal directions on how to find and make posts to the discussion forums. I'm going to do the same on the writing process and post it on the course homepage and in the Help discussion forum.
On another note, I applied for admission to the Valdosta State University's online EdS in Instructional Technology degree program. Have been ardently working on my 1500 word admission essay. Am really getting a bit obsessive about it at this point. I am also concerned about my GRE scores. They meet the requirements, but I took the GRE in 1995. ETS no longer maintains scores from exams taken prior to 2000. Gosh I feel old! I'm trying to convince VSU to take a scanned copy of my original paper report.
Tennis and Running
Not much to report on my athletics. I'm in a bit of a hiatus since I'm working full time at WFHS and part time at GAVS. This doesn't leave much time for working out. However, the WFHS gig ends March 11 and I am looking forward to starting in five leagues:
I am also working with the Hampton Tennis Committee to plan the End of Mixed Winter Season Party. I have proposed a Mardi Gras theme. We'd all draw colored doubloons to form tennis teams of 3 or 4 men and 3 or 4 of women. We'll play in a team tennis format of: 1 set of men's singles, 1 set of women's singles, 1 set of men's doubles, 1 set of women's doubles, and two sets of mixed doubles. Each time you individually win, you get a set of beads. After play ends, you get to pull one string from the dip box with the goal of pulling the string that has the Mardi Gras baby on the hidden end. One man and women will become King and Queen of Mardi Gras and win a private lesson with Zenda (contingent upon a budget from the tennis committee). All three teams bring Mardi Gras themed food. Laissez les bons temps roller!
Conclusion
So goes my life for the next two weeks. Busy, busy, busy. Hoping to stay healthy and enjoy the last of my time at WFHS. Looking forward to updating "MY BLOG" (he-he, she laughs giddily!) next week.
What's going on?
There are really four facets of my life right now: Work at WFHS, Work at GAVS, Tennis and Running, and Home and Family. I plan to organize my blog to address each of these areas of my life.
Work at WFHS
I've been working as a long term substitute French and Spanish teacher at West Forsyth High School. I'm enjoying working with the students and getting back into a formal, face-to-face class room. I forgot how rewarding it can be to make a learning connection with a student: To see theme finally grasp a concept that has eluded them or help them to make a connection to a bigger idea and give a lesson meaning. This is why I love teaching and working with pupils.
Coming back to the classroom has also helped to understand how much I've grown as an educator. I started out as such a conservative, old-school education, always thinking about rigor and the integrity of an assessment. Now, I'm much more concerned about the learning, growth and success of my students. I've become a disciple of remediation. I've seen how well it works. It changes attitudes so profoundly that what was once viewed as impossible progress by the student is now attainable just because the students believes that they can.
Work at GAVS
I'm a bit defeated on this front. I developed the French 2 course that I am now teaching for the first time. It's littered with errors and typos, which is frustrating. Also, the writing assignments, which are the keystone of the course and my proudest innovation, are a miserable failure. I would say that two of the main factors are that: 1) the process is too lengthy and 2) the fact that students don't seem to understand how to navigate the site. They can't find the discussion forums and don't understand the expectations for the pre-writing peer editing discussion forum. They can not find the peer review forms and do not know how to critically examine writing assignment. I get feedback like, Looks good to me." or "Great job!" with no supporting evidence our comment. I suppose that this is a teaching opportunity. But frankly, some of these students are so far behind, they want to rush to get through assignment. Any additional instruction or support that I offer is just ignored.
Thinking about what I can do, I created a voice thread with step-by-step screen shots and verbal directions on how to find and make posts to the discussion forums. I'm going to do the same on the writing process and post it on the course homepage and in the Help discussion forum.
On another note, I applied for admission to the Valdosta State University's online EdS in Instructional Technology degree program. Have been ardently working on my 1500 word admission essay. Am really getting a bit obsessive about it at this point. I am also concerned about my GRE scores. They meet the requirements, but I took the GRE in 1995. ETS no longer maintains scores from exams taken prior to 2000. Gosh I feel old! I'm trying to convince VSU to take a scanned copy of my original paper report.
Tennis and Running
Not much to report on my athletics. I'm in a bit of a hiatus since I'm working full time at WFHS and part time at GAVS. This doesn't leave much time for working out. However, the WFHS gig ends March 11 and I am looking forward to starting in five leagues:
- USTA Friday Mixed Doubles
- Ultimate Tennis Mixed Doubles
- ALTA Thursday women at Sienne
- ALTA Sunday women at Hampton
- Simple 8 day singles
I am also working with the Hampton Tennis Committee to plan the End of Mixed Winter Season Party. I have proposed a Mardi Gras theme. We'd all draw colored doubloons to form tennis teams of 3 or 4 men and 3 or 4 of women. We'll play in a team tennis format of: 1 set of men's singles, 1 set of women's singles, 1 set of men's doubles, 1 set of women's doubles, and two sets of mixed doubles. Each time you individually win, you get a set of beads. After play ends, you get to pull one string from the dip box with the goal of pulling the string that has the Mardi Gras baby on the hidden end. One man and women will become King and Queen of Mardi Gras and win a private lesson with Zenda (contingent upon a budget from the tennis committee). All three teams bring Mardi Gras themed food. Laissez les bons temps roller!
Conclusion
So goes my life for the next two weeks. Busy, busy, busy. Hoping to stay healthy and enjoy the last of my time at WFHS. Looking forward to updating "MY BLOG" (he-he, she laughs giddily!) next week.
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